The mammalian immune system provides a means for the recognition and elimination of foreign pathogens. While the immune system normally provides a line of defense against foreign pathogens, there are many instances where the immune response itself is involved in the progression of disease. Exemplary of diseases caused or worsened by the host's own immune response are autoimmune diseases and other diseases in which the immune response contributes to pathogenesis. For example, macrophages are generally the first cells to encounter foreign pathogens, and accordingly, they play an important role in the immune response, but activated macrophages can also contribute to the pathophysiology of disease in some instances.
The folate receptor is a 38 KD GPI-anchored protein that binds the vitamin folic acid with high affinity (<1 nM). Following receptor binding, rapid endocytosis delivers the vitamin into the cell, where it is unloaded in an endosomal compartment at low pH. Importantly, covalent conjugation of small molecules, proteins, and even liposomes to folic acid does not block the vitamin's ability to bind the folate receptor, and therefore, folate-drug conjugates can readily be delivered to and can enter cells by receptor-mediated endocytosis.
Because most cells use an unrelated reduced folate carrier to acquire the necessary folic acid, expression of the folate receptor is restricted to a few cell types. With the exception of kidney, choroid plexus, and placenta, normal tissues express low or nondetectable levels of the folate receptor. However, many malignant tissues, including ovarian, breast, bronchial, and brain cancers express significantly elevated levels of the receptor. In fact, it is estimated that 95% of all ovarian carcinomas overexpress the folate receptor. It has been reported that the folate receptor β, the nonepithelial isoform of the folate receptor, is expressed on activated (but not resting) synovial macrophages. Thus, folate receptors are expressed on a subset of macrophages (i.e., activated macrophages).